Home with plenty to crow about
Inverleven is a time capsule of a bygone age, with a starring role in a hit BBC drama
AH, the glamour of showbiz. The TV people who descended on Marie Gilda’s home certainly made a big impression. The fish dish they cooked up in the kitchen stank her house out for days. It was 1996 and actors such as Peter Capaldi, inset, and Joseph McFadden were shooting scenes for the acclaimed BBC series The Crow Road.
Mrs Gilda said: ‘The script called for the lady of the house to serve up Cod Creole.
‘Well, she never had any cod so she served up a dish with six pilchards sticking out. The smell was disgusting.’
It’s easy to see why the Beeb would want to replicate the programme’s Uncle Hamish’s house in the expansive apartments of Inverleven House, Dumbarton.
There’s a long gravel driveway, perfect for the scene where the character of Verity kicks up dust as she swoops up in her trendy BMW.
The Gildas’ wood-panelled TV room doubled as Uncle Hamish’s prayer hall, as actor Paul Young preached to his weird congregation of three.
And the beautiful dining room was perfect for repeat ‘takes’ of the Cod Creole scene. Phew.
Twenty years after the Crow Road director shouted ‘cut’ on a week’s filming, the Gildas are sadly relinquishing ownership of what they thought was their ‘forever’ house.
Brian Gilda is struggling with a near four-hour commute to and from his work in Edinburgh.
He said: ‘I never had any visions of leaving here. The journey through to Edinburgh is getting pretty tough – otherwise we would be here forever.
‘When you close the door here, the world’s a million miles away.’
To cross the threshold of Inverleven House is akin to travelling back through time, transporting you to 1870, when the imposing house was built.
You are immediately confronted by two beautiful stained and leaded screen archways, decorated in the traditional Glasgow Rose style. One leads into a glorious reception hallway, featuring the brass and copper inglenook fireplace shining away in the corner. In 1907, a ballroom was added for that touch of glamour, a room the Gildas have used to host their legendary summer parties. On the other side of the hallway lies the dining room, kitchen, TV room and a warren of little pantries and cupboards that once served as staff quarters. To demonstrate the house’s provenance as a working home, the Gildas have retained the mangle and silver polishing machine (complete with tubs of jewellers’ rouge) once used by maids.
One of the pantries still has black slate for shelves, which helps keep items cool.
The first floor accommodates four bedrooms, including the grand master bedroom, boasting a painted marble fireplace as its centre piece.
There are views to the Clyde only a few hundred yards away. Mr Gilda has made his home office on the second floor, which provides an eyrielike perspective on the river to the front – and to Dumbarton Rock beyond Levengrove Park to the east.
Perhaps it’s the parties the Gildas will miss most when they leave Inverleven House.
At one summer bash, both Rangers manager Walter Smith and Celtic boss Tommy Burns were among the guests.
Mr Gilda recalled: ‘All the Rangers fans stood with Walter Smith on the stairs to get their picture taken.
‘Then, all the Celtic fans did the same with Tommy Burns.
‘Murdo McLeod was at the party, too. He said: “Don’t put me up there, Brian. I’m manager of Dumbarton FC and I’ll be standing there on my own!”’
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